Hand brake



Patented Apri 2, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

GOODRICI-I Q. LEWIS, F WHEATON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO W. H. MINER, ING.,OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

HAND BRAKE.

Application led July 2, 1926. Serial No. 120,004.

This invention relates to hand brakes.

In the operation zof hand brakes of the` vertical staff type in whichmeans are provided for rotating the stati1 to wind the brake chainthereon, ratchet mechanismis also provided for preventing accidentalreverse rotation of the statl, and when it is desired to release thebrakes, the release lever of the ratchet mechanism must be disconnectedand lo held out of engagement until the bra-ke chain hasI univoundsufficiently to release the brake shoes, and immediately tl e lever isreleased the same resumes its normally engaged position with the ratchetassociated Withthe staff, thereby preventing any further reverse rotation of the stall. Due to various reasons the release ratchet isfrequently permitted to resume its engaged position with the brake staffbefore the same has unwound sutlieiently to fully release the brakeslices, thereby resulting in incomplete unwinding of the brake chainfrom the stall' and dragging of the brake shoes upon the Wheels Withconsequent tive eil'ort by the locomotive.

rlhe purpose of the present invention is to provide means for lockingthe release lever .in disengaged position to permit full unwindngmovement of the brake stati", saidmeans being of a character whereby theactuating .mechanism including the sivingable operating handle forrotating the stail totahc "up the brake chain, is utilized in oneposition of the parts to be placed `in the path of the rclease leverwhen 'the same is .moved to inoperative position to prevent said. leverfrom resmning its normal operative positionthe arrangement alsoservingto secure `the operating handle and the actuating mechanism whichcarries it, against undesirablelvibration.

1Another object of the invention isto arrange the parts of the brake insuch manner that there is no danger' of accidental release thereof whenthe operating handle is dropped to disengage the actuating mechanismfrom the sta if, the release lever when in its holding position being sodisposed as to prevent unintentional. (lisplacement by the operating areleasing direction to prevent its return to` operative position.

great wear upon the parts and increased trachandle, but permitting theoperating handle @ther and further objects of the invention will moreclearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Fig. 1 is ahorizontal sectional view through the end Wall'of a car, showing a topplan of the hand brake mechanism with my improvements incorporatedtherein, the operating handle of said brake mechanism being shown inposition to hold the release lever out of engagement, and the operatinghandle andrelease lever being shown in dotted lines they appear prior tomovementof there lease lever to permit the operating handle to assumeits position in the pathofthe release lever. Fig. 2 is a frontelevational view,

showing the operating handle in full lines, in position to hold therelease lever disengaged, said handle being shown in dotted lines priorto movement to the position of said lever shown in full lines. And Fig.3 is a transverse, horizontal, sectional view of the in-` vention,substantially on the line lu-3 of Fig.

2, and slimving parts of the mechanism in plan. i

Referring to the drawing, the end wall of the car 1s indicated at ll),to which 1s secured,

i a housing or bearing bracket designated generally by the referencecharacter 1,1 and liaving spaced side Walls 30 and 31. The housing 11 issecured to the wall 10 by suitable bolts 12442, and projecting into thehousing is the usual vertical brake staff, a portion of which isindicated at 13, the stall' having a square or other noncircnlarcrosssection at. the top thereof, on which is rigidly litted a ratchet Wheel14. lhe ratchet wheel is suitably mounted in t-he housing 'for rotationby journals indicated at 15 and 16. Oecillatably molmted upon thebearing bracket 11'is a carrier or fulcrum member designatedgenerallyby` the reilerelice character 17. The carrier 1T is providedwith laterally extending wings 15%, and pivotally mounted between thewings 18 by the horizontally `disposed bolt 19 is an operating handle orarm 20. As shown in `Figure 1, the end edge of the Wall 30 acts asalimiting stop forthecarrier 17 by engagement with the Wings 18 thereof.'llhehandle 2l) is providedat the inner-end thereof with a socket inwhich. 'is slidably mounted a pavvl 210 normally impelled out wardlybymeans of a spring `not shown. The arrangement of the handle `and pawl issuch that `when the handle is elevated toa horizontal position,assho'vvn indotted lines in lltl Fig. 2, the pawl is-operatively engagedwith I theratchet wheel 14, so that oscillation ot the handle 20 impartsrotation to the stati' 1 3 ina direction tojtake up the brake chain, andwhen the handle 20 is released, it autoinatically t'alls of its ownweight to a depending vertically arranged inoperative po? sition.V Allof the above described mechanism is old and well known as for instancein U. S. Patent to BrownNo; 1,185,972,.June 6, 1916, and Geiger1,575,752, March 9th, 1926, and no claim is made thereto, except incom'- bina'tionrwi'th the novel means l'or utilizing the operatinghandle to cooperate in effecting full unwinding of the brake statt,which means will be now referred to.

To hold the stall' 13. against retrograde rotation, a locking dog 21isprovided, which is pivotally mountedupon a bolt 22 in the housing' 11,'saidY dog being adapted to nor- Y mally engagethe ratchet wheel 14under the influence otra coiled springQB, one end ot which is disposedabout the lug 2li formed on 4 vlo the inn'erwall ot the lionsing, andthe opposite end of which' is disposed about a lug 25 formed on the endof the dog 21.

Forming part of the dog 21 is a release i lever 26, said lever includinga curved ollset portion 27 which extends outwardly from the wall 10Vasuitable distance as shown in i Figs'l and 3, the lever 26 beingprovided with a handle portion r28 which vextends substantially parallelwith the dog 21, so that by portion 28 is spaced outwardly from the wall10 a considerably greater distance than 1s cus- 'temaryinbrales of thecharacter now existing. The offset portion of the release lever is ot'such extent that when the dog 21 is in engagement withpthe ratchet 14,the operating handle 2() when it is dropped strikes upon .the upper`surface .oit the release lever without moving the saine to disengage thedog 21 thereby preventing unintentional release of thedo@ 21, andtherelease lever is so 'formed that wxh operating liand'le'20'may then bedropped or placed behind the release lever and so lock the same againstmovement toward engage ment with the ratchet wheel inward movement oflthe handle toward the car wall befing limited by engagement of thecarrier 17 with the :tree edge ot' the wall 30 ot t-he housagainstvibration.

V`AIn operation, assuming the parts of the f mechanism to bein theposition shown in' Aeo VFig-s1 and 2, and itis desired to tighten thebrakes, the operating handle 2O is iirst ele- 7 vate'd 'to the ositionshown in dotted lines in Fig.52,l thereby permitting the dog 21 toassumev its normalfengagement `with the reason ot the oltset portion 27,the handle en the same is manually pulled away Y' trom the wall'lO torelease the ratchet 14, the

ing, .the operating handle being thus held handle may be dropped at anypoint within its movement, and will have no ell'eet in releasing tlicdog 21 loi instance, it the l :indie 20 were to be in the position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1 when the saine is dropped, said handle wouldcome into engagement with the top surface of the handle portion 2b otthe release lever 2G, thereby preventing arcidental release ot the dog21. On the other hand when it is desired to release the brake to permitunwinding oi the stati', the handle portion 28 ofthe release lever 2Gmay be ma nually pulled away troni the wall 1t) to release the dog 21,and the operating handle 20 then has suiiicient clearance to drop behindthe release lever 26 so as to lock said lever in ie leased position andmaintain the dog 21 out ot engagement to permit unimpeded unwinding otthe brake chain trom the stall', and it should be observed thatl whenthe operating handle 20 is in position behind the release lever,movement of the handle toward the car wall is prevented by the housingwall llt),

that the operating' handle 20 and the carrier i.

17 are restrained from tree oscillation about the axis ot the carrier,so that the operatii g handle, `elease lever, and carrier are so intellocked as to etfect a desirable condition with respect to these parts,which permits tull unwinding of the brake chain troni the stall withoutinterference with the normal operation ot the brake.

lVhile I have herein shown and described what I now consider thepreferred manner of carrying out the invention, the same is merelyillustrative, and I contemplati` all changes and moditications that comewithin the scope ot the claims appended hereto.

.l claim:

1. In a hand brake, the combination with a tightening element; ot ameehanisn'i tor rotating said tightening element, said mechanismincluding an operatin member iuoval'zle to position to engage anddiscngagc said mechanism; and means engageable with said tighteningelement holding same against retrograde movement, said holding meanshaving elements adapted to be engaged by said operating member when inreleased position to lock the holding means against return movement tooperative position ai'ter being disengaged from said tightening element,said holding means when in operatively1 engaged with the tighteningelementpreventin said operating member trom assuming lool(- i ingposition until said holdingineans i s moved ltit) llt)

